Waste disposal unit



May 7, 1940. M, L GREEN 2,200,061

WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT Original Filed July 9, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l -1.4, mw wm, Nw mw Q m Nm. @m ww mm NN I 5v Q QN ww NN R.

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May 7, 1940- M. J. GREEN 2,200,061

WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT Original Filed July 9, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I' t jme/zr WM??? Patented May 7, 1940 PATENT OFFICE l aznmosr wAs'rE msrosar. UNrr Martin .L Green, Chicago, Ill., assigner of onefourth to Julius C. Suess, Chicago, Ill.

Appucaunn July 9, lsaa'serm No. 218,411 l Renewed October 9, 1939 lclalml.

The waste disposal unit of the `present invention is designed as a self-contained fitting to be attached to the drain outlet of a. sink or the like for household use in the disposal of waste and 5 garbage, which is fed directly into the unit and there shredded into comparatively fine particles and discharged into the waste outlet to the sewer, thereby eliminating the necessity for otherwise disposing of the garbage.

In particular, the invention is directed to the form and arrangementr of the shredder and to the feeder employed in conjunction therewith. The unit also makes provision for the maintenance of a partial vacuum in the shredder casing which supplements the mechanical feeding action which is incidental to and concurrent with the shredding operation, and also assists in drawing down the waste particles which are delivered to the shredder by the mechanical feeding devices hereinafter to be described.

The unit is so arranged and constructed that it may be interposed directly between the base or iloor of the sink and the usual drain pipe, and so that it mayemploy water delivered d1- rectly through the Vdrain opening in the sink without the necessity for the employment of separate jets or columns of water for the purpose' of maintaining an adequate current ow', thereby greatly simplifying the construction and the 30 ease and expense of installation or the provision of additional piping'and connections.

` Further objects and details will appear from the description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through one of the units embodying the features of the present invention;

Fig. 2'is a cross sectional elevation taken line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a modified form of construction;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional elevation taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation of another modi- 45 fied form of construction.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the unit of the vpresent invention is attached to the basel ofa sink i provided with the usual drain outlet il, which may, if desired, be protected by a swinging 50 grille or grating I2 hinged at the point i 3. The

waste disposal unit is attached directly below` the drain outlet, and comprises a hopper I4 having a flanged neck I secured by screws i6 entered through the margin of the drain outlet 55 and protected by an interposed packing ring Il.

The hopper I4 is `integrally formed with a tubular housing i8 which communicates with the base of the hopper through a mouth I9. The hopper is rounded on its bottom as shown in Fig. 2, and is provided on one side with a rounded protuberant wall 20 so configured as to provide for the movements of a rotatable feeder 2| which comprises a hub 22 and outstanding prongs 23 which are of progressively greater length from the ends and up toward the center to give to the prongs collectively the circular marginal configuration shown in Fig. 2`, with the exception of a reduction in height in the center prongs to afford a dip 24 which is provided to aii'ord a clearance for the operation of the convolute shredder 25 presently to be described.

The hub of the feeder is provided'at its ends with trunnicns 26 and 21 which are entered through the threaded bosses 28 on the sides of the hopper, threaded caps 29 being provided which in each case comprise a packing ring 30 to afford packed journal mountings for the sup- .port of the feeder. The trunnion 21 is provided at its outer end with a handle 3| which permits the housewife to rotate the feeder as occasion may require. A spring stop 3|EL engaging the handle normally centers the feeder in the position yshown in Fig. 1.

The bulged wall 20 of the hopper casing is provided on its inner face with a plurality of spaced fins 32 which are integrally formed with the wall of the hopper and extend inwardly therefrom in position to register with the slots rbetween the prongs 23 so that the feeder can be rotated through the iins without interference.

'Ihe fins 32 spring from the curved bottom of the hopper wall and hence are of varying length, although terminating at their inner ends 33 at the same level and in a line closely adjacent to the hub of the feeder.

'Ihe ends 33 are of triangular formation and constitute extensions projecting inwardly from the lower body portions of the fins, and giving to the ilns the general configuration shown in Fig. 1, it 'being understood that the extent of the inward projection noted will vary conformably to the curvature of the base wall of the hopper from which the fins extend. The opposite side of the hopper is also provided with a series of inwardly extending ilns 34 of lower altitude, which, however, merely .enter between the tip ends of the prongs 23. 1 The arrangement as a whole is that of movable and fixed combs which are arranged to sweep as the feeder is rotated it will carry around a charge of waste material deposited in the hopper above the feeder, until the progress of such waste ls arrested by the forward edges of the fins 32 which stand in overhanging relation to the mouth I9, through which the material is delivered to the shredder 25.

'Ihe shredder rotates on an axis at right angles to the axis of the feeder and comprises a center hub 35 from which spring a series of convolute shredder blades 36 each of which extends spirally and uninterruptedly from end to end of the cylindrical casing I8, the fitting of the parts being such as to bring the edges of the convolute blades into practical contact with the inner surface of the casing I8 to afford a fairly close t, without, however, subjecting the shredder blades to any material degree of friction.

The discharge mouth from the hopper is so configured that the side walls at the point of juncture between the base walls of the hopper and the cylindrical walls of the housing I8 will afford a longitudinally extending sharp angle or ridge 31 on each side, which coacts with the edges of the shredder blades on each side and a similar sharp cross ridge 38, which ridges present knife edges which coact with the shredder blades in shearing and shredding the waste material delivered by the feeder.

The shredder hub at its outer end terminates in a shaft 39 connected by a coupling 40 with a motor 4I for driving the shredder at a high rate of speed, as for instance 1800 R. P. M. The shredder hub at its inner end terminates in a shaft or spindle 42 which is mounted within ball bearings 43 and closed by a cap 44 threaded onto the drain casing 45, which drain casing is provided with flanges 46 which abut against the flanged inner end 41 of the shredder casing, the parts being connected by bolts 48.

The drain casing is of elbow shape, as shown, and between the drain casing and the shredder casing is interposed an apertured plate-49 through which the waste material is discharged by the operation of the convolute shredder. Beyond the apertured plate is located a supplemental shredder 50 which assists in beating up and .discharging material immediately prior to its passage through the drain casing and into the goose neck vcoupling I of standard formation, which provides the usual Water seal common in the art. The shaft 39 passes through a cap plate 52 provided with athreaded neck 53 which receives a gland 54 bearing against a packing 55 for sealing the parts at this point.

It is important to make provision for the development of a partial vacuum to afford suction for assisting the progress of the waste material, and to secure this effect it is desirable that the shredder blades leading toward the discharge end of the unit maintain a close and uninterrupted contact with the walls of the housing I8, and it will be noted Ifrom Fig. 1 that such contact is maintained throughout a considerable distance, although at the terminus of the housing the walls are provided with grooves 56 which afford a serrated or corrugated surface which coacts with the shredder blades in tearing apart and shredding the particles of waste material passing through the device.

'I'he unit of Fig. 3, in so far as concerns the shredder housing and the formation and mounting of the shredder, substantially duplicates the construction heretofore described, so thatit is vtically disposed shredder.

not deemed necessary to again vreferto these portions of the device. However, in the device of Figs. 3 and 4, a plunger type of feeder is provided, and the hopperstands in offset relation to the shredder housing. In this instance, the hopper 51 is of empty bowl-shaped formation and terminates in a throated neck 58 which ex-j tends upwardly from a tubular feeder casing 88 extending at right angles to the wall oi'. the shredder housing, as best shown in Fig. 4.

Within the tubular feeder casing islocated a plunger 60 mounted at the inner end of a rod 6I which is surrounded by a lspring 62 bearing against a threaded head plate 63 through which the rod is entered.y 'I'he rod is provided with a handle 64 at its outer end, which permits the plunger to be retracted against spring'tension to expose the terminus of the throated neck 88 and permit a charge of waste material to fall' t down into position in advance of the plunger.

The inner face 65 of the plunger is of circular concave formation to closely embrace the blades of the shredder,y which at this point are provided in their edges with notches 66 which assistv in dragging down the waste material into the bite of the shredder when such material is driven inwardly by the release of the plunger.

In order to provide the necessary water flow while the plunger is in its innermost position,

the plunger is provided with a plurality oi' obliquely disposed water passages 61, which serve to educt the water from the throated neck 58 to the interior of the shredder housing.

'I'he construction shown in Fig. 5 is in all' respects like the construction of Figs. 1 and 2, with the exception that the shredder housing 88 with the shredder 69 is arranged verticallyA instead of horizontally, which in some situations may be found to be a. more desirable or convenient arrangement than the horizontal arrangement first described. In this case, the feeder easing is located laterally adjacent to the vertically disposed shredder housing and is provided with a throated neck 1I which is connected with the drain aperture from the sink inthe manner rst described.

The feeder is provided with prongs 12 which coact with fixed ns 13 in the manner heretofore described and the discharge aperture into the shredder housing is substantially similar. In

this instance I have shown a shredder housing which converges slightly at its outer end and merges into a cylindrical portion in conjunction with a correspondingly configured shredder, and have located the motor (not shown) at the lower end ofthe shredder shaft 14, the upper end of the shredder being journalled within ball bearings 15 housed over by a closing cap 16.

It will of course be understood that the shredder of Fig. 1 or Fig. l5 may, if desired be notched in the manner shown in Fig. 3, and it will be further understood that the plunger feed device, in lieu of the rotating feed device, may likewise be employed in conjunction with a ver- It is believed that su-ch variations need not be further described in detail, since the same are obvious from the description of the three forms heretofore more particularly described. Y

be delivered into the hopper and the feed de vice operated to mechanically feed the material Vto the shredder and exert suflicient pressure aandoen by the combing actiony as the prongs of thel feeder sweep through the stationary fins, so that in most cases opportunity will be afforded for.

the recovery of small objects accidentally becoming commingled with the waste material.

Where the rotating type oi' feeder is employed, the waste material will be swept downwardly and backwardly in opposed relation to the feeding direction of the shredder and tightly compacted and held in immediate proximity to the blades' of the rapidly rotating shredder, so that the material will be sheared off and shredded and disintegrated as it passes into the shredder housing and will thereafter be fed downwardly and additionally shredded as it encounters the grooved walls of the shredder housing. In its progress into and through the shredder housing the waste material will be assisted in considerable degree by the suction developed as a result of the rapid rotation of the shredder, which sucks the waste material and water inwardly and forcibly ejects the same into the drain outlet. It will be understood that it is desirable in the operation of the device to provide av sufficient water flow through the sink to maintain the effect of a rotary pump so that the downiiow and discharge of the waste material will be assisted not only by the suction A maintained but by the force of the water current.

Where the plunger form of feed is employed, charges of material will be compressed by the plunger and held forcibly'against the blades of the shredder, and a water flow will be maintained through the head of the plunger so that in this case also sum'cient suction will be developed to materially assist the feeding action of the convolute shredder in carrying forward and discharging the waste material.

The device in any of the forms here shown is one which is extremely compact and which may be easily tted beneath a sink of standard construction and operated with the expenditure of a very small amount of power, and when so installed and operated will provide for the easy disposition of large amounts of garbage and waste which have heretofore required disposal in the conventional manner, and the nature of the shredder itself is such that it will serve as a grinder for the disintegrating of solid materials vsuch as pieces of bone, fruit stones, or the like, which are readily'reduced in size so that they may be discharged through the waste drain without clogging.

Although I have shown a rotary shredder having convolute blades arranged in intervening relation to one another, it may be possible to employ a single continuous spiral blade, so that it will be understood that in the claims where I refer to blades I intend to cover and include any convolute formation of equivalent character, whether the same involve oneor more convolute blades in the arrangement.

Although the invention has been described with particularity as to detail, it is notf the intention unless otherwise indicated tolimit the invention to the particular forms of construction shown, since modifications therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: f

1. In a -waste disposal unit, the combination of a hopper provided with a discharge mouth and a. shredder housing communicating therewith, a rotary shredder within the housing provided with elongated blades adapted to engage and disintegrate the-material delivered from the hopper and feed the same toward the point of discharge, a. feeder located within the hopper and rotatable on an axis extending transversely to the axis of thel shredder and provided with spaced prongs certain of which are of varying length to closely embrace the contiguous portions of the shredder blades when the prongs are rotated into adjacent relation thereto, and cooperating fixed fins projecting inwardly from the hopper wall and spaced to permit the prongs to sweep therethrough, the edges of certain of the iins terminating in varying positions to closely embrace the contiguous portions of the shredder and the feeder being so 'disposed that when rotated it will sweep down the waste material Vand compact the same against the edges ofthe flns and in close relationship to the rotary shredder.

2. In a waste disposal unit, the combination of a hopper provided with a discharge mouth and a shredder housing communicating therewith, a rotary shredder within the housing provided with elongated blades adapted to engage and disintegrate the material delivered from the hopper and feed the same toward the point of discharge, a feeder located within the hopper and rotatable on an axis extending transversely to the axis of the shredder and provided with spaced prongs certain of which are of varying length to closely embrace the contiguous portions of the shredder blades when the prongs are rotatedA into adjacent relation thereto, and cooperating fixed fins projecting inwardly from the hopper wall and spaced to permit the prongs to sweep therethrough, the edges of certainof the fins terminating in varying positions to closely embrace the contiguous portions of the shredder and the feeder being so disposed that when rotated it will sweep down the waste material and compact the same against the edges of the ns and in close relationship to the rotary shredder, andv the blades of the shredder and the shredder housing wall being in such close relationship as to develop a partial vacuum through the rotation oi' the shredder for assisting the inflow of waste material.

3. In a waste disposal unit, the combination of a hopper provided with a discharge mouth and a shredder housing communicating therewith, rotary shredder within the housing provided with elongated blades adapted to engage and disintegrate the material delivered from the hopper and feed the same toward the point of discharge, a feeder located withinv the hopper and rotatable on an axis extending transversely to the axis of the shredder and provided with spaced prongs certain of which are of varying length to closely embracel the contiguous portions of the shredder blades when kthe prongs are rotated into adjacent relation thereto, and cooperating fixed ns projecting inwardly from the hopper wall and spaced to permit the prongs to sweep therethrough, the edges of certain of the ns terminating in varying positions to closely embrace the contiguous portions of the shredder and the feed- .er being so disposed that when rotated it will sweep down the waste material and compact the same against the edges of the ns and in' close relationship to the rotary shredder, and the blades of the shredder and the shredder housing wall being in such close relationship as to develop a partial vacuum through the rotation of the shredder for assisting the iniiow of waste material, and the marginal walls around the hopper at the point of juncture with the shredder housin-g aiording knife edges incontiguous relation to the shredder blades to coact therewith in shredding the material.

4. In a Waste disposal unit, the combination of a hopper provided with a discharge mouth and a shredder housing communicating therewith, a rotary shredder within the housing provided with convolute blades adapted to engage and disintefeed the same toward the point of discharge, a

feeder locatedwithin the hopper and rotatable y upon an axis extending transversely to the axis of the shredder, and having a downward and backward feeding movement in opposed relation to the forward feeding movement of the shredder, the feeder being provided with spaced prongs, and cooperating i-lxed ns projectingv inwardly from. the hopper wall in position to permit the prongs to sweep therethrough,-the feeder being so disposed that when rotated it will sweep down the waste material and compact the same against the edges of the ns and in close relationship to the rotary shredder. l

l MARTIN J. GREEN. 

